Born June 23, 1930 in Columbus, Ohio
Bachelor of Science in Astronautics, U.S. Naval Academy
Master of Science in Astronautics, U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology

About the Man

Donn Eisele received a Bachelor of Science degree from the US Naval Academy in 1952. He received a Master of Science degree in Astronautics in 1960 from the Air Force Institute of Technology, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

Eisele chose a career in the Air Force after graduating from the United States Naval Academy. He is also a graduate of the Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Eisele was a project engineer and experimental test pilot at the Air Force Special Weapons Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico. While there, he flew experimental test flights in support of special weapons development programs.

Sadly, Donn F. Eisele died on December 2, 1987 after suffering a heart attack while on business in Tokyo, Japan.

About the Spaceflight

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Apollo 7

October 11-22, 1968

Donn Eisele was the command module pilot for the eleven-day flight of Apollo 7. Apollo 7 was the first manned flight test of the third generation United States spacecraft.

During the flight of Apollo 7, astronauts Schirra, Eisele, and Cunningham, tested the spacecraft's systems, specifically the systems that had been redesigned after the Apollo 1 fire.

The crew of Apollo 7 also performed rendezvous exercises with the upper stage of the Saturn launch vehicle and provided the first television pictures from a U.S. spacecraft. Apollo splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean after 163 orbits.

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